Chapter Text
Amelia's pov
Mai set us up in a house that has enough room for six people. Everyone's asleep in their own rooms besides me. I spent all day learning about how the village works and assisting Mai so I'm exhausted but at the same time I can't sleep. I wonder how Ollie is doing. It's been almost two days since she left. I hope she's okay. I get up and leave the house, careful not to wake anyone up because they're also exhausted from doing their jobs. I walk around the village. The village is pretty busy during the day but at night the only people outside are usually just patrol watching for any zombies that might've snuck into the village.
Mai: Hey, what are you doing up?
I turn around, Mai is standing right there.
Amelia: I can't sleep.
Mai: Oh, I don't blame you. You must have a lot on your mind.
Amelia: I guess I do. Right now I'm just hoping Ollie is okay.
Mai: She's tough. I think she's fine. I have a question for you though.
Amelia: Yeah?
Mai: You're not from this timeline right?
Amelia: Correct.
Mai: So what makes you want to save it so badly? I mean obviously you have to get the final piece of the watch from the goddess but you made the decision that you're going to save this timeline before you knew she had the final piece right?
I've mentioned the whole timeline situation to her while Ollie has been gone. She seems like someone I can trust.
Amelia: Well I guess there's multiple reasons. One reason is although these girls aren't my friends back home, I still consider them friends. They saved me and they probably don't even realize it. Without them, I wouldn't have ever found the pieces of the watch that I already have, I wouldn't have known about the blood moon, or the goddess, and I might've been a zombie by now if it weren't for them.
Mai nods.
Amelia: I also feel like I owe it to a few people. Back on the mountain we were lost in a forest during a blizzard and probably would have froze to death if it weren't for this couple named Shiro and Itsuki. They took us into their home even though we were strangers and could've robbed them or something. Unfortunately, we were attacked by a group of camouflage zombies that were hiding in the snow. They broke in and bit Shiro, but before he was bitten, he talked to me about killing the goddess. I wasn't sure about it at first, my top priority was getting home but then Itsuki also saved us. She distracted the group of zombies so we could get away safely, the last thing I heard from her was her saying we could repay her by killing the goddess. That got me thinking, why did I avoid the decision to kill the goddess?
Mai seems to be listening closely.
Amelia: I guess it was because I was afraid of dying. Dying is scary but I was more afraid that if I died, my friends back home would never know what happened to me. I'd just disappear and never come back. For the rest of their lives they'd be wondering where I went and if I was still alive. Leaving them behind is the last thing I'd want to do. Once I got out of the forest I realized that the people here are my friends too, and I'm not just going to leave them to suffer the wrath of some sad*stic goddess that doesn't even belong in this timeline.
Mai: You have a time Warden in your timeline right?
Amelia: Yeah.
Mai: Shouldn't she have been here to save you by now?
Amelia: No, she might be going through timelines looking for me but there's an infinite amount of them, so the chances of her actually ever finding me are very low.
Mai: I see.
Amelia: My turn to ask a question. Where's the other leader? Ollie said there were two.
Mai: He went on a scavenging trip with a few other people, though it's been more then a week since they left. I fear the worst has happened.
Amelia: I'm sorry to hear that.
Mai: Unfortunately, I'm used to losing people.
Amelia: I have another question. How did Coco village get to be so organized and when did you have time to build this concrete wall around the village?
Mai: Well we didn't build this. It was built for defense during a war we call world War three. It ended not too long before the goddess showed up. Only a few years. This village used to be just a few miles away from a border with another country, though of course this country doesn't exist anymore and neither does that one. As for how we got so organized, well it took time. Coco village was almost another faction. Our original leader was named Donyu, and he was power hungry and very paranoid. The other village leader and I, his name is Isamu, we were what Donyu called his personal security. Our only job was to protect him, we weren't allowed to leave his side. Someone near us could be getting attacked by a zombie and he wouldn't let us save them because we wouldn't be by his side and he threatened to execute us if we disobeyed his orders.
Amelia: Wow.
Mai: He gave most of the village rations to his group of elites that supported him which they did mostly because he gave them more rations and power. When supplies for the regular people kept running out, people demanded he treat everyone fairly and give them equal rations. He of course refused. Me and Isamu knew if we didn't do something, things were gonna end very badly. So we came up with a plan we kept secret from the elites. Us and the rest of the villagers, on a specific night, went into the armory and grabbed everything we could. Then we stormed into Donyu's house and demanded change which he again refused which caused a fight to break out and before we knew it, the village erupted into a civil war. In the end we won, though many good people died that day.
Amelia: Sounds like it was rough. I despise people like that.
We suddenly hear a voice shout from the front gate.
Ollie: I'm back!
Amelia: Oh, nice!
We run to the front gate. Mai hugs Ollie. She hugs back.
Mai: How'd it go?
Ollie: It went great, I have everything mapped out, and I have a lot of useful information to give everyone.
Mai: Let's get with the others.
We go to the house Mai set us up in and wake everyone up.
Ollie: Okay everyone listen. I have very important information. Firstly, Mumei is still alive. She's being kept prisoner in Monzetsu's castle.
Everyone is shocked.
Gura: We have to rescue her!
Amelia: We will, but we'll have to kill Monzetsu first.
Ollie: Secondly, everyone's powers are being kept in little glass containers in the throne room.
Irys: Wait really?
Ollie: Yes. The maid told me no one could open or break them by anyone except for Monzetsu herself.
Calli: Maid? You were caught?!
Ollie: Well technically yes but the maid isn't on Monzetsu side. She's keeping her son hostage and forcing her to work for her.
Calli: I see.
Ollie: Last thing, one of the containers were empty. I think someone still has their powers but I don't know who.
Kiara: Not me.
Ina: Not me either.
Ollie: I don't think it's anyone here.
Calli: Probably not. We'll figure that out later. Right now we need to prepare. The last thing we had to do was wait for Ollie to come back with the maps and here she is. We can now go on with our plan.
Mai: Before we do that, let's inform Ollie of our back up plan in case things go wrong.
Ollie: Back up plan?
Mai: It's all or nothing here. If Amelia fails, we're all gonna die anyway, I know we stand no chance against her but I'm not just going to do nothing and let her erase our existence. If Amelia fails, everyone in Coco village that can fight will storm the castle. I'm sure the castle is connected to the sewers so we'll get in from there just as Amelia will. I gave everyone radios. We'll wait in the sewers for Amelia's signal. If she failed, we'll rush the castle. If she's successful, well then we won't need the back up plan. I just wish we could've gotten the few countries left in the world to help us but that would take a lot of negotiating and we don't have time for that.
Ollie: Alright sounds good to me. Also where's Kyu?
Mai: She's busy educating the village on Monzetsu. Since she knows her the best, she's telling us what she's like, about her past, what weaknesses she may have and stuff like that.
Suddenly the ground starts shaking and we can hear the sounds of helicopters in the sky and vehicles coming closer.
Gura: What's going on?!
Everyone rushes outside the village to see military vehicles such as tanks, cars, and helicopters landing just outside of Coco village. A car stops just in front of us. Someone wearing an military general's uniform steps out.
Mai: You look like you're in charge. Can you explain what is going on here?!
General: My name is General Muchi, and you're correct, I'm in charge. Who are you?
Mai: I'm Mai. I'm the leader of this village. Can you explain what you're doing here?
General Muchi: I'm in charge of a joint military operation consisting of the combined forces of the last few remaining countries on Earth. Our goal is to kill that sad*stic goddess and bring an end to her reign of terror. We're going to use your village as a base.
Mai: What?! You didn't ask for permission, and there's not enough room for all of this!
General Muchi: Then I apologize for this. We're going to need every villager out within an hour.
Mai: Excuse me?! You can't just do that! This is our home! We've been here for years, you can't just claim this village as your base!
General Muchi: That I can. I hope you'll cooperate with us. We don't want any problems, do we?
Multiple soldiers aim their weapons at Mai.
Mai: You're insane.
General Muchi: It's for the good of humanity. Now gather everyone up and leave, the clock is ticking.
Mai: Where are we supposed to go?!
General Muchi: Not my problem.
Mai: You have no right to do this. Where were you when people were dying by the thousands every hour huh?! You did nothing to help us! You closed your borders and hid on your little island while the rest of us got slaughtered! You didn't even try, and now you're taking our village from us?! The village we worked so hard to grow and protect for the past two years, almost three! There's children in there you know!
General Muchi sighs.
General Muchi: It's clear my words aren't getting through to you, so maybe actions will.
One of the tanks moves it's barrel over the top of the concrete wall. It fires, hitting the school inside Coco village. Mai watches in horror.
Calli: Are you crazy?! There's kids in there!
Mai: You heartless bastard!
She pulls out a pistol, ready to shoot General Muchi. I stop her.
Amelia: Don't.
Mai: Did you not see what he just did?!
Amelia: I saw, but we can't do anything. They have the strength and numbers to kill all of us without losing a single man themselves. It pisses me off too. We need to be smart about this though. Shooting him will only result in our deaths. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do.
